I was in the hardware store last weekend buying some seeds to plant. This guy stops and looks at me and said” You’re buying seeds? I didn’t know anyone did that anymore. I never have time to plant seeds.” If he only knew. I LOVE planting seeds. And bulbs. And flowers of every kind. And then I run outside every morning like a kid at Christmas to see if the seeds germinated. I stand over them and chant “Grow! Grow! Grow!” I know, it’s weird, but there’s something primatively soul satisfying about planting seeds and watching them grow.

Since we moved here, I’ve had this gardener who must truly hate me. For 2 years now, every single time I plant seeds, she pulls them up. And it almost makes me cry. I go from furious (who can’t tell the difference between weeds and plants?) to almost tears (she pulled up my sweet peas last year when they were about 6 inches tall!!!!) I finally figured out it’s mostly because she just rakes everything up and all the seedlings come with it. We had a little disagreement about it last week. She saw I bought seeds and asked where I was planting. I said I was only planting in my pots because I’ve given up planting seeds in the ground. She of course took offense at that, but honestly, TWO YEARS! In two years I have not been able to grow a single plant from seed. NOT ONE! So anyway, I planted a bunch of seeds in my pots and hanging baskets and then had the brilliant idea to get the flats and plant the seeds in the flats! I spent the morning outside planting seeds in the flats. I am just giddy with anticipation. Plants I’ve been trying to grow for two years, that I can only find in seed form, now have a chance at survival!!!

I know I am unique in that I still take time to garden. I cook from scratch, and I make jam in the summer. I enjoy cooking a meal from fresh ingredients we picked at the farm. I love picking flowers from the backyard and putting them in vases all over the house. These things are becoming obsolete in our busy, harried world. The art of sewing, cooking and gardening have fallen by the wayside. It’s more of a west coast problem then say, the south, but still, I find it disturbing. I only have two friends that sew. I’m the only one I know of around here that can sew. People have lost essential survival skills. They have lost the ability to be self sufficient and “make their own.”

I, for one, will continue to make jam. I will continue to grow plants from seed. I will continue to sew and cook things from scratch. It’s a lost art. But these are things I learned to do from my grandmother and mother. And I will pass them down to my children. If the time ever comes again where humankind is forced to be self sufficient, my children and my children’s children will know how to cook. They will know how to make their own clothes. They will know how to grow their own garden. So plant your own garden instead of waiting for someone to bring to you flowers.